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a pic of my waglers and a question......

oreganus Jul 08, 2003 12:23 AM

I thought I would share a picture of my waglers viper. I love this girl, I decided to snap a photo during dinnertime. I have a question about watering, is there an easier way than misting her everyday? Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking of a water dish for bird cages that I could mount on a branch in the foilage, but does anyone think this will work or has it worked for them?
Thanks
Kevin

Replies (3)

Ian Long Jul 09, 2003 11:49 AM

I once had a male Waglers that would drink from a small meat baster. The tip was almost touching his snout, and a bubble of water was squeezed out against his snout. He would drink from the bubble. I think I had to enlarge the hole a bit to get the right bubble. Sounds dangerous, but he was small and passive and it did not seem risky at the time. I thought it was a neat trick; it was very efficient. A bit later I got an adult female that was quite bity and of course much bigger, so I never tried it with her. However, I have pondered arranging a shield to insert a tool (baster, tongs, whatever) through, vaguely like a round hand guard on a sword. A piece of clear plastic, of sufficient size and strength, with a hole in the middle to insert a baster through, could work, although it might be too cumbersome to use in your apparently heavily planted cage.

Other ideas to cope with heavy misting. Drill drainage holes in the cage floor and mount the cage over some kind of tray. If the floor is glass, glass companies will drill holes but they may not guarantee they won't crack the glass. I had this done successfully once. And/or try a very deep substrate of mixed fir bark and sphagnum moss to absorb a lot of water. Using enough moss should inhibit bacteria growth.

Your idea of a raised water bowl is commonly used for many arboreal snakes. Whether your girl will use it is, well, up to her. When I go this route I like to use as large diameter a bowl as possible, to make it easier for the snake to find and to enhance humidity enough that misting can be reduced. Frequent misting is still recommended, particularly when A/C or heaters are drying the air.

Hope this helps.

oreganus Jul 14, 2003 12:51 AM

I am going to try the raised waterdish idea. Great snakes, don't do much though. She has a great big elaborate cage and she sits in one spot all the time, boy, glad I spent 900 on a cage!;0)
LOL
Kevin

oreganus Jul 14, 2003 12:51 AM

I am going to try the raised waterdish idea. Great snakes, don't do much though. She has a great big elaborate cage and she sits in one spot all the time, boy, glad I spent 900 on a cage!;0)
LOL
Kevin

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